Determined Love
by Liu Kimone
Summary: A story set after the final episode about Malone's return and the tests fate puts Veronica and him through.
1. A Life Exchange

Note:  This is my first submission so if it seems bad, I'm sorry, I can't help it.  I'm a diehard Ned, Veronica fan and if anything, I'm ticked off that they were hardly even covered in season 3.  They had such a sour ending and I felt obliged to write this, mostly for myself but also for anyone else's enjoyment.  If the first chapter seems depressing, don't worry, there is a twist.

Disclaimer:  I don't own any of the Lost World characters, I'm just writing about them.  If you have a problem with that, get an imagination, I'm not using them for profit anyway.

Water splashed in all directions as Ned Malone dashed across a shallow creek and into the brush on the other side.  His newly made hide-skin boots absorbed the impacts of the sharp rocks beneath him and allowed him to keep up his grueling pace.  Behind him, somewhere, was some sort of disturbance and it seemed to be coming for him.

For the past three days, Malone had been chased by some sort of rippling wall.  Some times it came barreling at him and other times it stopped its chase long enough for him to catch his breath before advancing again.  Stop and go, stop and go, it was getting very nerve racking and made it impossible to get any sleep.

It had started three days ago, when Malone was on his way back to the tree house for a reunion he had anticipated for months.  Then, he found himself in a very tricky situation.  He was attacked by a pair of raptors while he was sleeping.  His instincts kicked in, waking him up and sending him for his weapons.  Unfortunately, he had put his knives down a little too far away.  Reaching out, he managed instead to grab a flaming log from that night's fire and whip it across the first raptor's face.  It had backed off enough for Malone to get to one of his knives before both attacked him.

With one knife and one log, Malone's only chance was to flee to the nearest tree and that he had done.  For thirty minutes, the raptors waited until they started to loose interest.  One started to wander away when it suddenly disappeared, leaving only a ripple of air where it had been.  Malone was stunned and almost fell off the branch as the wall of rippling air advanced.  The other raptor, a little closer to it then Malone, soon disappeared as well, leaving Malone alone.

With all the agility he could muster, Malone half climbed and half jumped out of the tree and took off running.  Direction meant nothing, he knew he had to escape it.  Malone looked back and could have sworn that the phenomenon sped up because he had to accelerate to a sprint to keep it from overtaking it.  Once morning hit, it seemed to slow down and stop for around an hour before taking off again.  That had been the story for the past three days, an hour of rest, and then several hours of constant movement.

Three days of no rest and lots of movement had taken their toll on Malone.   He would have given anything for one good nights rest but it was not to be.  He peered back through the trees as he jogged along.  There it was, just under a half a mile away and advancing at a steady pace.  He didn't know how long he could take the stress but he forced those thoughts away as his adrenaline kicked back in and he forced his blistered feet to go faster.

He peered at the sky, which had just recently become dark.  The clouds swirled around one point, marked with a bright yellow light seeming emanate from the ground.  The source was dangerously close to where the tree house had to be, causing him to worry about his friends.  "Wherever you guys are, I hope you're better off than I am," he muttered silently to his friends and continued on.

"Mother, am I destroying the Plateau or destroying it!"  Veronica yelled as the light burned away at her hand with the Trion in it.  All around her, the light enveloped her, leaving her blind to everything else.  Her body shook as she found herself in overwhelming pain.  It seemed like the whole plateau was fighting itself and she was caught in the middle.  She could almost feel the planes of reality as they tried to collapse on her.

She screamed as the pain went from horrible to unbearable but the scream was lost in the ray of light.  _I have to stop this, _she thought to herself,_ I can't let them die._  Reaching up to support her raised arm, she felt like she was fighting against the entire plateau to keep her hand with the Trion up.   

The light intensified and the pain became indescribable.  Her screams fell out one after another but were once again lost in the light.  Everything seemed to flash before her eyes.  Her parents, her friends, her adventures, and her love.  Suddenly, as if the world was quieted, everything went black and silent.  The last thought that crossed her mind was _Ned, I love you.  With that, Veronica Layton fell to the floor of the tree house, lifeless._

Just as the blade descended on Challenger to dissect him, Challenger screamed in one last vain effort to escape his fate and closed his eyes.  He could hear it get closer and closer to him, and then it suddenly stopped.  Opening his eyes, he was stunned to find himself lying right outside of the electric fence for the tree house.  

Joy overwhelmed him as he stared at his wonderful home.  "I never thought I'd be this happy to see you," he said to the house in the trees.  All around, things had returned to normal.  The buzzing of the electric fence obviously meant that electricity was once again flowing through it.  The tree house looked like it always did, as if it didn't even notice what had happened. 

Just as he thought joy would overwhelm him, he heard someone yell "Veronica!" from the tree house.  Spotting the elevator, he dashed at it at full speed to see what was wrong.  As the elevator reached the top, he stepped out into the room to see Finn sobbing silently over a fallen figure. 

When he approached, he immediately recognized the familiar features of Veronica lying there not moving.  He approached and put two fingers to her neck only to find that the pulse he had expected to find was not there.  Fear gripped him as he checked for any sign of life but there was none.

Sitting back on his heels, he found himself completely at a loss of words.  He felt like he needed to comfort the now hysterical Finn but the lump in his throat prevented him from saying anything.  Veronica had been family to him and now she was dead and he was living.

A tear slid down his cheek and the air fell silent.  All around, the normal sounds of life hushed, as if the world itself was paying its last respects to the blond beauty.  Not daring to break the silence, Challenger and Finn sat in relative silence, sobbing over the friend who died to save them.

The blade in the Druid's hand thrust downward and Marguerite screamed at the top of her lungs, fighting against her captors for an escape but none came.  Just as the dagger touched her chest, everything simply disappeared.  Looking around, she found herself in the middle of a field.

She clutched at her chest, finding a small dribble of blood, where the point of the dagger had touched her.  Slowly, she slowed her heavy breathing and fell back into the grass, never so glad to be alive.  Her heart felt elated, knowing that it was going to get to keep beating.

Suddenly, she remembered _Roxton__, where is he.  "Roxton!" she yelled but no response came back.  "ROXTON!"  
she yelled again but still got no reply.  Fear gripped over her and she had to force it back behind her normally uncaring façade.  _

_Get a hold of yourself, Marguerite, if Roxton survived then the he'll head back to the tree house.  Go there first and then you can worry about him._

She looked around to get her bearing and finally realized she wasn't more than an hour away from the tree house.  Grabbing at her side, she was relieved to find her firearm.  With that, she headed off towards the tree house with a mixed feeling of happiness and worry.

Launching himself at his enemies, John Roxton rushed forward with a splitting war cry.  All around him, their inaccurate guns tried in vain to bring him down, but he continued forward.  As he neared the first one, he launched off his feet, tackling the Conquistador and knocking him out.  Ignoring the pain, he tripped the second warrior as he approached.  

As confidence started to overcome him he saw a third one approaching.  Again he launched through the air to tackle his foe.  As they landed, the man fought back, pulling a pistol out and aiming at Roxton's stomach.  Roxton fought against him in vain, trying to move the gun off its aim but the struggle was stopped by the burst of the gun going off into his chest.

Just when Roxton thought everything was over, everything fazed out of existence.  The Conquistadors just disappeared and Roxton found himself exactly where he had been before he was hit by the shifting plane. 

Immediately he looked around for any sign of anyone, only to find no one.  "Marguerite!" he yelled to no avail, causing him to repeat again.  He finally got his bearing and decided the best thing to do was head back to the tree house.  _If separated, head to the tree house, he lectured himself in his mind._

With a worried look, he headed off at a fast walk towards the tree house, stopping every once in a while to yell Marguerite's name or listen for any sign of her.

Malone couldn't take it anymore, his legs felt like jello and he hadn' t eaten in several hours.  The phenomenon was no longer stopping, it was going faster and faster and Malone's pain's were forcing him to go slower and slower.  It had slowly crept up on him until it was now a couple of hundred yards off.  He was still a good day away from the tree house, not like it would provide him any safety.  The thing seemed determined to get him and his willpower was fading with every second.

He turned to face forward again but what he saw made him stop in his tracks.  Another wall of the ethereal substance was advancing from in front of him.  He looked around for an escape, only to find none.  Both walls stretched for miles, leaving him trapped.

Giving into his aching feet, he fell to his knees.  The sky had gotten unbelievably bright and everything seemed to be sucking into the ground around one point.  But it didn't matter to him anymore, all that mattered was getting out his last statement before he was taken.

"I'm sorry everyone, I'm sorry for going," he said as he imagined the people who had been his family for the last three years.  "Challenger, you've always been my friend, thank you for giving me the greatest adventure of my life.  Marguerite, I know we've had our differences but I've always admired your strength and courage, even if I never told you.  Roxton, you've been like a big brother for the past three years, looking out for me and being there when I needed you.  I wish you the best if you escaped this."

"Veronica…"  His thoughts drifted, picturing her perfect face and beautiful blond hair.  "of all the people I've met, you are probably the most kind and gentle person ever to grace me with your presence.  I wish I could be there with you, wherever you are, but fate, it seems, won't let me.  I know I've always been afraid of saying this, but it doesn't seem as scary now."  He looked around to see both walls only a few yards off but yet he didn't feel rushed to say the last part.  "Veronica I love you."  With that, he felt completely resigned to his fate.  He stared to the sky and waited for the inevitable.

The walls came closer and closer until they were nearly converged.  Then suddenly, the sky flashed with an almost blinding light.  Malone shielded his eyes and when they opened, he heard the sounds of life.  In the distance, a couple of raptors ran off after their prey, while birds and other animals filled the once silent air with their sounds.

Malone stood, stunned, as everything carried on as if nothing had changed.  There were no signs of the evil mist and the sky was a cloudless, blue again.  Standing up, Malone ignored the sores on his feet.  It was as if fate had given him a new lease on life.  All the things he said in his last moment passed through his mind, making him think about the people he thought to never see again.  Finally, he could see them all again and tell them how he truly felt.

As he thought of them one by one, he finally came to Veronica.  Fate had given him another chance with her and he was determined not to squander it.  He would find her whether she was back or not and he would tell her.  No more skirting the issue, this experience taught him that life was too short to be afraid of expressing his feelings.  Rejection he could live with, but keeping his feelings hidden inside had been tearing him apart and the thought of dying without ever telling her was almost unbearable.

Slowly, he limped off towards the tree house, overcoming his pain by thinking of his friends faces and of Veronica.  The pain was worth it if he could just see her one more time.

Okay, that's the end of the first one.  Sorry if it was bad.  If you have suggestions, review this so I know what I did wrong or right.  In all honesty, I wanted to go further into the story so people wouldn't think this is a depressing story but time constraints prevented it.  I'll try to think about the next chapter and write it as soon as I can figure out what's going to happen.


	2. A Delightful Little Ambush err Reunion

Okay, I'm going to give a second chapter a try.  Once again, I'm sorry if you don't like it.  I hope its good, but either way, I am just going to write and you can judge for yourself.  This chapter is a bit off the topic, but I figured that just focusing on Ned and Veronica would be unfair, somehow.  By the way, I'm apologizing ahead of time to all the fans of Marguerite and Roxton.  I found shortly after I started writing that my writing doesn't do them justice, its just hard for me to get into their minds (if I did anything right, I give all the credit to Pam4 and her story "What Goes On In Her Mind," I kind of used it for inspiration, and if I did anything wrong then it was my fault, not hers).  

Note:  Thanks for the reviews!  To be honest, I expected to get either no reviews or a couple of "This Sucks!" reviews.  So, thanks, for the encouragement.

Sidenote:  To Sue19:  I'd like to answer your question but it would make the outcome a foregone conclusion and if there's anything I like in a good story (not that I'm saying this is a good story), its a little mystery.

Disclaimer:  If you missed it on the last chapter, I don't own any Lost World characters.  If I did and I had money, there'd be a fourth season shooting right now but I don't so no more of the "what if's"

Coming into sight of the tree house, Roxton had to stop himself from getting overexcited.  It was almost kind of funny, the way he had taken everything for granted.  The tree house had always been convenient for him but he never appreciated it quite as much as he did then.

_Its__ amazing how a life or death experience can change your perception on life.  Slowly, he continued on to the tree house but was stopped in his tracks at the sound of something moving up ahead.  He raised his rifle, only to remember that he didn't have any bullets left.  His first impulse was to run for the electric fence but the thing seemed to be closer to the tree house than he was.  _

He bent down to pick up a fallen branch lying nearby.  It wasn't much of a weapon but it was thick enough to sting pretty bad if someone or something decided to get up close and personal. 

He had no intention of provoking it, but he did want see who or what it was.  He creeped forward into the brush to get a look.  His legs were tired, and fighting for his life had dulled his senses somewhat, causing him to make the mistake of stepping on a relatively good-sized twig.  It snapped and the sound was loud enough to alert anyone in the area.

The thing suddenly stopped and started creeping towards Roxton's hiding place.  Adrenaline pumped into Roxton as he realized that it had to be human or at least something intelligent.  It was cautiously approaching and most raptors were stupid enough to come running.  He prepared himself to attack it, bringing the branch up in front of him and crouching in preparation for his pounce.  The thing got closer and closer until it was nearly on top of him.

Pouncing forward, Roxton brought the branch up and prepared to strike the "thing" but he stopped just before he hit it.  There in front of him was an extremely frantic brunette, who's features were instantly recognizable.  

"Roxton, I could have shot you!" Marguerite uttered as she struggled to get her breathing under control.  "What do you think you're doing!"

Roxton looked at her sheepishly, obviously trying to control his embarrassment at almost mugging her.  "Sorry, I didn't know who you were."  His gaze wavered and he stared briefly at the ground before realizing his obvious show of weakness and returned to his normally unwavering self.

She knew she could drop it there, but it was just too good of an opportunity so she allowed herself one little poke at his pride.  "John Roxton," she said as she saw a grin come across his face, "if I didn't know better, I would think you were enjoying the thought of tackling me."

Sure enough, the implications of the statement brought the uncertain look back briefly before he reined it in and returned her jeer. "Well if I knew such wild beasts roamed around here, I would have brought a bigger stick," he said as he nodded at the branch he still held in his hand.

"Ha, ha, ha, Roxton," Marguerite returned sarcastically, "your wit always astounds me."

"Well, its nice to know I can impress you," he said, sporting that grin that Marguerite loved so much.  

She chuckled at it slightly but decided the jeers would just continue between the two, so why not end on a good note.  "Come on, let's go see how everyone else fared."  With that, she started walking towards the tree house, with Roxton keeping pace to her right.

In her heart, she had secretly been panicking that Roxton hadn't escaped and, even worse, he was dead somewhere.  The ambush had been unexpected but at the same time relieving.  "So, what happened with the Conquistadors?"  She tried her best to keep the worry out of her voice and act like she didn't care.

"I ran out of bullets and rushed them.  I struggled with a couple of them and almost got shot but then they just disappeared."  He shrugged as if to say just another day, but she could see right through it.  He must have been tired or emotionally exhausted because he didn't do a very good job at convincing her or concealing a small tingle of fear that surfaced.  "What about you, what happened to you?"

"I was transported somewhere, I'm not sure.  Then a bunch of Druids tried to sacrifice me.  They just about did when everything just disappeared." She did a much better job at concealing her fear then Roxton had.  Her voice implied that it hadn't fazed her, but she knew he would have his suspicions.  He was always the best at reading her.  Most of the time it made her angry, but on this occasion, she decided it really didn't matter that much.

"Marguerite," Roxton interrupted her thoughts with a soft voice, "I was worried about you for a while there.  I thought I would never see you again."  The sincerity in his voice stunned Marguerite and for some reason, gave her an odd feeling in her heart.  His voice was one of the things she thought she would never hear again.  It was the same voice she imagined in her dreams of him, the same voice she anticipated and dreaded, and the same voice she had tried so hard in the past to get out of her head.

"I was worried about you too," she replied, trying her best not to show the emotions she felt inside.  She looked straight at him as he stared off down the path to the tree house.  She could tell that there was a war raging in him to say something and she would have given anything to find out what it was.

Suddenly he stopped, apparently coming to a decision.  "Marguerite," he said as he turned to meet her gaze, "you know you mean everything to me?  I don't think I could have lived without you."

Part of her screamed for joy at his confession and she tried her best to suppress it but she couldn't in time.  A smile spread over her face and she actually felt a little weak.  Her brain screamed at her that this was a mistake.  She had been betrayed so many times in life, how could she feel like this for some one?  Now it was her turn to fight a war against herself.  All the pain of a lifetime was fighting against her need for him.  In the end, all she could do is stand there and look at him

"I just wanted you to know that," he continued, still peering into her eyes for any sort of sign, only to find none.  Hesitantly, he took her hand in his and when she didn't pull away, he took that as his sign.  Slowly, he started to walk towards the tree house, guiding her along in his wake.

She followed as they finally neared the electric fence and started their ascent to greet the rest of their friends.

Well, that was it for the second chapter.  I just had to include Roxton and Marguerite's relationship.  It wouldn't be fair to just talk about Ned and Veronica and leave out these two.  Hope you liked it.


	3. Hope Lost

Well, this is the third chapter.  Now that I'm done going off on my rabbit trail with Roxton and Marguerite, I'm going to get back to the main story.  (By the way, if you liked the last chapter let me know, otherwise just conveniently leave any references to it out and I'll get the point).  This is where everyone finally gets the news (even Malone).  I guess everything else you can read for yourself unless you're illiterate, in which case you can't read this anyway so why did I just write that?  Oh well, I guess its good to have some humor every once and awhile (I think I have a problem with chasing rabbits).

Disclaimer:  I know, I know.  This is getting annoying even for me but I have to say it.  I don't own any of the Lost World Characters.  I'm writing for my own enjoyment and the day I make a profit off of it will be the day that I win the gold metal in the Olympics (its not going to happen).

Note:  Thanks again to everybody who reviewed.  Your encouragement definitely drove me to keep writing

Challenger was in the middle of cleaning the room when he heard the elevator coming up.  He started to walk over to it when he spotted Marguerite and Roxton on the elevator.  They both laughed and smiled as they stepped off into the room, obviously the result of some sort of joke from one of them.  Challenger immediately noticed that their hands were holding each other, but acted like he hadn't noticed, as they broke their grip on each other and approached him.

"Challenger!" Roxton said as he approached Challenger and pulled the older man into a big bear hug.  "You have no idea how good it is to see you."  Challenger smiled at him, allowing himself to smile for the first time in the last hour.  Roxton faded back a bit, giving Marguerite her opportunity to give a hug to the elder scientist.

Fighting against himself, he forced himself to keep the smile on his face.  _Why ruin their time just yet.  After all we've been through today, they deserve just a little more time to enjoy themselves._

Part of him hoped against hope that they wouldn't ask the question he didn't want to answer but, sure enough, it came.  "So, where are Veronica and Finn?"  Roxton looked around, waiting for one of them to come out and say hi.

Any hope he had of keeping the smile on his face died when Roxton uttered those words.  Slowly, the pain of all that had happened began to seep back into his expression.  He lowered his head slightly, hopefully to shield his look of shame.  "Finn's in her room, she's had a rough day," Challenger stated while pointing down the stairs to where Finn lay in her room, sulking over Veronica.

Roxton glanced down the stairs when Challenger pointed down them but then refocused on Challenger and continued, "…and Veronica?"  Those words were almost too much for Challenger and the silence that followed them was enough to tip Roxton off that something was wrong

"What's wrong, she's not back yet?" Roxton questioned Challenger, still unaware that she hadn't been affected by the shifting planes in the first place

"No, she's back Challenger said," absolutely dreading what he would say next.

"Well then, where is she?"  The look on his face was becoming more frustrated as the scientist continued to evade the question.  He had dropped his head on his chest to look down at the floor.

"Where is she, Challenger?"  Roxton repeated in a softer tone, but the reaction he got was unexpected.  Challenger lifted his head from his chest and immediately Roxton spotted a couple of tears rolling down his cheek.  Unable to speak, Challenger mutely pointed at the couch with his hand.

Roxton knew something was wrong, but he approached the couch and noticed a misshapen lump covered with a blanket.  He approached, trying to still the fear growing inside him.  He slowly pulled back the covers and Marguerite gasped at what she saw.  

There, beneath it, was the blond haired woman that they all knew and loved.  At first sight she might have seemed to be sleeping, but Roxton had seen it too many times during the war to be fooled.  Her pale complexion, the stillness of her body, there was no mistaking, Veronica was dead, and never coming back.

Hobbling over the last stretch of ground, Malone entered into the clearing around the tree house.  No feeling could compare to the joy he felt when he saw his house in the trees.  After all the wandering, after all the lonely nights and after all the fights for survival, he was going to go back to where he now truly believed he belonged.  His mind raced with anticipation for the reaction he would get from his friends.  He could just picture their faces as he walked in.

He had purposely taken his time to get to the tree house, so that he'd arrive right when everyone was asleep.  He relished in the thought of them waking up to him cooking breakfast for them.  _Boy, wouldn't Marguerite be surprised…and Roxton, well I guess he'd be happy Marguerite wasn't cooking, but I still can't wait to see his reaction…Challenger, well he never reacts much to anything, but I'd still relish the look on his face… and Veronica…_He didn't even know if she was back or not but the thought of her waking up and smiling at him as she emerged from her bedroom sent his anxiety soaring to intolerable heights.

It wasn't that late, but Malone was sure everyone was asleep.  _I'll just climb up, so no one hears me.  If anything else, I'll just duck into my room and stay there until the morning comes, I'm sure no one will go looking in there since they think I'm gone.  Even as he wove his plan, he was overwhelmed with giddiness.  It sounded like a good one, and at the time, the thought of having to sit in front of the tree house for hours, staring up at it with the questions that filled his mind was too much to bear._

He stealthily approached the base of the tree and after watching for anyone who could spot him, he started his climb.  He hadn't quite taken into account the blisters on his feet and toes that made his climbing a very awkward and somewhat painful experience.  He worked tediously up the crevasses in the gigantic tree until he reached the top level of the tree house.  First he checked for anyone and when he found no one, he quietly slipped in.

Everything was just as he left it, a sight for sore eyes.  Silently, he walked forward, headed to the couch to sit down, at least for a little while.  Then he saw her and his breath caught in his throat.  There she was, sleeping like an angel.  Her face was revealed just enough by the dim moonlight that it made her look just as heavenly as he imagined her.  He found himself lost in the moment, staring at her beautiful blond hair and delicate skin.  It was no wonder she had been the focus of his dreams for so long, she was absolutely gorgeous.

He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her, content just to watch her.  Time passed by but he never noticed, he was so lost in his thoughts.  He longed to talk to her and to be with her.  He remembered all those times in the past when they had held each other and oh how he longed for it again.  The temptation was overwhelming and his will power caved to it.  He just had to wake her and tell her how he felt.  He couldn't wait until morning to be with her, he had to be with her now.

A smile lit up his face as he approached the couch, bending slightly and nearly whispering, "Veronica."  She didn't even stir to his reply.  "She really does sleep like a rock,"_ he said to himself silently, as he chuckled.  With that, he reached to her, stroking her cheek as he whispered her name again.  Still she didn't reply to his gesture.  Slowly, his grin started to fade into concern.  __Is she playing a game or something, he thought as he moved closer to her and gave her a light jiggle.  "Veronica, this isn't funny," he said as adrenaline rushed over him and he pulled the blanket off of her to give her a moderate shake.  But she didn't wake up._

The fear in him was consuming him as he intensified the shake.  _Come on, your kidding, right?  Snap out of it, please snap out of it!  This can't be real, you have to be faking!  He forgot about everything he had ever wanted in life, his only desire was to see those beautiful eyes open again but they remained closed.  He stood her up but she just continued to slump towards the floor like dead weight.  _Dead, _that word shook him to the bone.  No, it wasn't possible, Veronica couldn't, she wouldn't, nothing could kill her!_

He started to realize how cold she was, as his arms wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling to the floor.  There was no warmth, no heat, she was as cold as the night air.  Hope was fleeing from him, taking his life with it.  He desperately wanted to hear the rhythm of her breathing but she remained silent.  Finally, he reached for her neck in a desperate search for hope!  His shaking hand reached her neck and he pressed two fingers to it, wishing and simultaneously praying to find the pulse of her heart, but he couldn't feel anything.

He was two shocked to do anything but lower her back onto the couch and kneel over her.  A vacuum opened up in his stomach, threatening to swallow him whole.  Tears fought their way to the surface as his last ounce of hope died.  He lost all his strength in that second, falling onto her with tears now flowing freely.  All he wanted was to embrace her one last time but instead he was doomed to hugging the lifeless shell he now had his arms wrapped around.  There was no hope left, the love of his life was gone… forever.

I'm sorry if you didn't like that chapter, or my story in general, but this is just how I write, whether it is good or not.  I want to try to offer you some hope for the future so I'll just say that this isn't the end of the story, in case you were worried about it.  Remember, I said there was a twist.  If you want to, give a review about what you think I did wrong or right.  I have ideas where I'm going with this story but I haven't quite decided, when I do I'll update it.  Once again, I hope you liked it!


	4. The First Dream

Finally, I can get to the fourth chapter. Sorry, I was kind of stuck for a while there. First, my family decided to become computer addicts, then college decided that it wanted to give me three projects to do and two tests to study for, and to top it all off I had a small case of writer's block and a little question that kept on bugging me (how am I going to end this story?). Most of my weekend, I tried to answer this question and then, while I was watching a couple of episodes from the beginning of season three, an interesting idea for how to end this story popped in my head. It sounds good in theory, its just my ability to put it on paper that I doubt. Either way, here's the fourth chapter, I hope you like it.  
  
Note: Thanks for the reviews on the last chapter. I actually made someone's favorite stories list and that was my biggest goal in this story! You have no idea how good it felt to find that out! Anyway, thanks, you encouraged me to keep writing on this.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own these characters (unfortunately), if I did, then this would probably be a movie, not a story (okay, maybe that's a little too confident).  
  
The dark of night slowly turned nearly pitch black, a perfect imitation of the feelings Malone felt in his heart. He had spent the last two hours kneeling over the couch and during that time he had gone through every possible emotion a person could think of. His tears had long since run out, leaving him to fight back the flood of emotions that continually wore away at him. A thousand questions seemed to fill his mind, each one passing quickly with no real answer.  
  
Luckily, no one had heard him before or he was sure that one of his housemates would surely be trying to comfort him. Surprisingly, of all the things to make him angry, the thought of one of them trying to comfort him and make him get over her death was the most infuriating. He didn't want to leave her side, he didn't want to forget about her, he just wanted to stay with her. forever if it was possible. Perhaps it was guilt, perhaps his sanity was giving out, but no matter how much it hurt him to see her, he just couldn't leave.  
  
The minutes passed, with Malone not even noticing. Fatigue was slowly overcoming him. He had hardly slept in three days, and that, combined with the hunger he felt and the emotional weariness that plagued him, was sapping what little strength he had to start. Every part of him felt weak and yet somehow oblivious to everything around him. It seemed to him that nothing could hurt him anymore, probably because there was no pain possibly strong enough to compare to what he was feeling.  
  
His eyes fluttered and he shook himself to keep awake but the wave of exhaustion slowly pushed him towards unconsciousness. His eyelids felt weighted and it took all his remaining strength to keep himself from giving into the urge to let them close. Slowly, they drew closed and no matter how much he tried to keep them open, he finally was forced to give in. With that, he finally gave into all the weariness he felt and he slumped forward into unconsciousness.  
  
The trees around him seemed almost to shift as Malone walked aimlessly down a path. For some reason, it seemed like the plateau but at the same time it was totally silent. All around him, he couldn't see or hear anything or anyone. It was as if the entire world was gone and only he remained. His mind seemed caught in a limbo between reality and the dream world. 'Almost like a dream or a nightmare,' he thought to himself, 'why does that seem familiar?'  
  
He continued to walk down the seemingly endless path unaware of where it was leading but somehow knowing he needed to follow it. Time didn't really seem to pass, it felt like he was outside of time, outside of reality. Suddenly, a bright light seemed to appear at a clearing ahead, cloaking a figure of someone.  
  
He ran as fast as he could, until he reached the clearing. He saw a figure emerge from the light that concealed her. Slowly, she took shape in front of him and reached for his hand. Her blond beautiful hair was the first thing to stand out, followed by her face, as it emerged from the light. Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle in front of him and her face contorted into a small smile as she drew nearer.  
  
He could have sworn his heart had stopped beating when he finally recognized her. "Veronica!" Ned nearly yelled as he tried to contain his excitement. A small tear flowed down his cheek as their hands met each other. It felt so good and in that second, all he wanted was to stay with her forever. For the first time in so long, he allowed himself a true smile. "I thought you were dead," he said on while staring at her in disbelief.  
  
"Ned, I've missed you so much," she replied simply.  
  
That statement was almost too much for him. "I've missed you too, what happened to you?"  
  
She didn't seem to take heed of his question, instead continuing on. "Ned, I have something to tell you."  
  
She drew nearer and nearer to him, leaning in on him and he on her. She drew closer and closer to the point where her lips were less than an inch away from his. Just as her lips were about to brush his, she opened her mouth to say something. Anxiety swept over him for some reason. His heart skipped a beat and his breathing stopped as he yearned to hear the message he wanted to hear so much. Her mouth opened in a small smile and she finally uttered, "Ned, I've waited so long to say this. Ned, I." Just when his anxiety hit its peek, her voice started to fade to the point where he couldn't hear her. Her mouth kept moving but he couldn't make out what she said.  
  
All that remained was complete and utter silence. "What did you say, Veronica," he demanded, wanting so much to hear her but only silence remained. Then, as if triggered by his want, her body started to fade away. Slowly, her skin became more and more ethereal until she was barely visible. "Veronica... what's happening" he said, stunned, as he reached out to touch her. His hand slid right through her body, as more of faded. She didn't answer, she just stared at him as she became nearly transparent. The feeling it sparked in him left him speechless, unable to even utter a word as the last of her disappeared before his eyes.  
  
The once bright light faded with the last of Veronica, leaving the world dark and hollow. Once again, he felt his strength go and he slumped to his knees. It was as if fate was playing with him, letting him relive his pain and laughing in his face as he knelt there, defeated.  
  
In this dark, he saw another figure emerge. It came closer and yet became harder and harder to recognize. Strangely, it had the form of a human, yet it seemed to not to be male or female. Somehow, it seemed to be something else. He could almost feel evil seeping from it as it came to stand over him. It stood there, as if to mock him as he dwelt in his pain  
  
At first, he tried to ignore it, but he just couldn't stop his anger at the thing for ruining his moment and spoiling his memory of her. For some reason, he could tell it took pleasure in his pain, which only turned his anger to rage. In that moment, nothing made sense, but it didn't seem to matter. Logic, reason, none of it mattered anymore. The pain of a lifetime surfaced inside his face.  
  
He couldn't suppress it anymore and the barriers he had built up against it broke. Every bad feeling he had ever felt seemed to pour through and with a blood-curling scream, he launched himself at the being. He wanted to kill it, to vent everything he felt on the thing that seemed to be the cause. He drew closer and closer, and just as his hands began to wrap around its neck, the world seemed to explode and everything went black.  
  
Challenger woke to the bright morning sun peeking through the shades. All around, the world seemed to be coming back to life, as if everything was normal. But everything isn't normal, he thought to himself as he got up and got dressed. The previous day had weighed heavily on his shoulders, and the thought that Veronica had traded her life for their only further increased this load.  
  
Yesterday had been unnerving for him. The entire tree house seemed silent and hollow that whole evening, with each one of the explorers unwilling to break the silent revelry. It had been almost eerie that a place usually full of life and happiness was now full of death and misery.  
  
Finn had seemed to take it the worst of all the explorers. That night she had retired to her room even before dinnertime, but she did anything but sleep. That whole night she had sat on her bed, sobbing and refusing to let anyone in. Nor did she show her face outside her room.  
  
Roxton had been utterly stunned, especially by the way he found out. Challenger could still remember the look on his face as he stood there in utter disbelief. It was one of the few times he'd ever seen the hunter's eyes water. It had taken him nearly another ten minutes to even choke out the question of what had happened. Ever since, he had been disturbingly silent, not talking to anyone, with the exception of his comforting of Marguerite.  
  
Marguerite, being true to her form, had tried to seem like it didn't affect her, reining in her emotions while border lining disrespect. The façade had lasted for a while, but Challenger could tell it was wearing away at her. Finally, when she went to bed, she broke into tears. Roxton had gone into her room to comfort her and had yet to emerge.  
  
As for himself. he knew he had taken it badly. At first, he had been hit by a wave of guilt, a guilt that felt like a mixture between survivor's guilt and the guilt of an executioner who had just killed an innocent person. He had tried to control himself, reasoning that if he was the supposed leader of the expedition that it was his duty to be strong for everyone else. Of course that didn't stop him from feeling the emotions just as much as anyone else. He hadn't been able to get a bit of sleep and finally resorted to drinking some lavender tea to get any rest at all.  
  
He opened the door to his room and started making his way up to the kitchen. He got close to the counter, thinking what he should make for breakfast. Surely, Marguerite and Roxton weren't getting up anytime soon and Finn didn't seem to have any interest in eating or coming out of her room for that matter. That brought up the question of whether anyone would be hungry after all they'd endured. Regardless, he immediately started scrounging around for a pan of some sorts.  
  
That's when he noticed something odd. A chair was missing from the table. Peering around, he saw it sitting in front of the couch, but the biggest shock was that there was someone laying on top of Veronica. Immediately, he grabbed a cooking knife from the kitchen and spoke in a firm voice, "Hello?" The man, by the looks of it, didn't reply, he only muttered something in his sleep.  
  
His face was buried in the blanket so it was hard to distinguish any of his features, save his blond hair, which was cut relatively short. He was tanned from the sun and his boots and other garments made it obvious that he was a person who had survived on his own. Challenger was taken a little aback by this, but figured that since the person hadn't hurt anyone, he must be a friend to Veronica, why else would he be draped over her body.  
  
Cautiously, he approached to within a few meters of the man. Somehow, he seemed vaguely familiar, though Challenger couldn't put a finger on it. He came within arms reach of him and said, "Can I help you." It seemed kind of awkward saying that, but he couldn't quite think of anything else to say. Again, the only response was a slight mumble in his sleep.  
  
Slowly, Challenger bent down and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. With that, the man flew awake with agility that stunned Challenger completely. He grabbed Challenger by the neck, hoisting him up a little as he increased his hold. Challenger finally got a good look at the man and was surprised to see a man he knew. His glazed over blue eyes stared at Challenger as if he didn't know who he was. "Malone," Challenger choked out and was relieved to see the man starting to come out of his trance.  
  
All around him, all he could feel was the darkness. And yet he knew somehow he was moving. Not physically, of course but somehow it felt like he was crossing over a barrier. All he could feel was the hatred he felt for that evil thing. He kept lunging for it involuntarily, even though it had disappeared. He could feel himself being pulled back into reality and he fought to stop it.  
  
Then suddenly, a voice pierced through the veil that surrounded him. "Malone." it said weakly. It smashed into his mind and made his entire world collapse. Slowly, the darkness he had felt was replaced by the light of the real world, as his mind finally made it back from its journey.  
  
There in front of him Challenger was suspended in mid-air, Malone's arm holding him around the neck and keeping him off the ground. At first, it seemed just like his dreams but as he regained conscious thought, he realized it wasn't and immediately dropped the older man.  
  
"Malone." Challenger muttered as he inhaled deeply, "When did you get here?" Challenger finally stammered and looked up at the Malone from his slumped position on the floor. He rubbed his throat and winced slightly as he felt the bruises on it.  
  
"Last night," Malone replied, a little embarrassed both at himself for trying to strangle Challenger and at the fact that he had been able to lift Challenger so easily. Then again, surviving on your own tends to do that to people. Slowly, the scientist raised himself off the floor and gave Malone a nice bear hug.  
  
"Its good to have you back," he said as his eyes glimmered happily.  
  
"Its good to be back," Malone returned. For a moment, both of them forgot what had happened and smiled at each other. Then, a look of partial concern passed over Challenger as he glanced at the couch. Malone knew what he was going to say even before he formed a question in his mind, he had learned a great deal of how to read people's emotions and Challenger had it written all over his face.  
  
"Where's Marguerite and Roxton?" Malone cut off the question and kept his face as emotionless as possible.  
  
"They're still sleeping I think, as is Finn, but you wouldn't know her, she's new."  
  
Malone pondered this for half a second before asking another question to forestall Challenger. "Are you cooking breakfast?" he said only half interested in the answer.  
  
"Yes," Challenger seemed to remember, and looked back at the kitchen.  
  
"Well then, I'll just wait here, I haven't had anything to eat in a while anyway." His tone came out a little too harshly for Malone's liking, but he wanted to avoid a conversation he knew was too much for him to handle yet.  
  
Challenger seemed to get that Malone was avoiding the subject and walked back towards the kitchen as Malone sat back into his chair and drifted into his thoughts. Home at last, he thought, but can I really ever call it home again? With that, he lounged back, listening to the sounds of the tree house as it carried on, seemingly normal to most. But for Malone, it would never be the same.  
  
Well, there it was, the fourth chapter. I dropped a very minute hint in this chapter as to how the story is going to end, but I don't expect anyone to get it. I like writing this story, though this chapter and the next one are going to be the hardest to write. This is because, they are both supposed to be tying chapters, to help build towards the end. Therefore, they're a little harder to write in a way that actually makes them seem interesting. Anyways, I'm sorry if you didn't like this chapter but I wrote it anyway. Please, if you can tell me what I can do and what I did do wrong or right I'd appreciate it. I'll to get the next chapter out a little quicker. 


	5. Mourning Comes and Fright Falls

Finally, I can get around d to writing this. Chapter five is a little open ended because I took the last part of it and made it into chapter six. As for the storyline, the beginning part is about a conversation between Roxton and Marguerite. Once again, I couldn't just talk about Veronica and Malone without including them, it just wouldn't be right (also, its kind of hard to because Veronica is dead). I tried to make it really subtle that their relationship is growing. In other notes, Malone begins to be haunted by strange nightmares about Veronica. As for the rest, you can read it yourself. I will get the rest of this out as soon as possible. But either way, I hope you enjoy this chapter.  
  
Note: Thanks for the reviews. I'm actually surprised by some of the enthusiasm. You definitely were an inspiration.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own them, not any. I wasn't old enough to claim complete ownership of anything when the Lost World started.  
  
"I feel sorry for the boy," Roxton said as he turned to the Brunette walking beside him, "I'm surprised he hasn't completely broken down."  
  
"I know," Marguerite replied with a look of sadness on her face, "he's changed."  
  
"Yes, he has," Roxton agreed thoughtfully. He knew very well that the old Ned would have done one of two things, he would have either exploded into tears or he would have gotten angry and demanded someone tell him what happened. But the new Ned seemed to rein in those emotions, making his face completely unreadable. In some ways, this was an encouragement but he knew better than to think Malone wasn't hurting.  
  
When he had woken up next to Marguerite that morning, he had thought that it was a good omen, but as soon as they found Malone the day's outlook took a turn for the worst. Roxton had approached Challenger after barely getting a response from Malone and whispered, "When did he get back?"  
  
Challenger's only reply was, "last night" before he continued on with making breakfast. Once the food was prepared, the three of them sat and ate. To their surprise, Finn actually emerged from her room. Of course, she was a bit edgy when she saw Malone, not knowing who he was. Challenger had introduced him as Malone and Finn's eyes had immediately widened in surprise. A look of sympathy passed over her, and her eyes watered a little before she snatched a fruit and ran back to her room.  
  
Challenger and Marguerite had watched Finn the whole time, surprised by her actions, but Roxton had focused on Malone's reactions. The younger man seemed to be interested in meeting Finn for a couple of seconds. Then, as he was about to introduce himself, he caught a glance of Veronica, and Roxton could almost feel his heart die inside.  
  
Stopping himself, Malone had sunk back into his chair and continued his gazing into space. Even when Challenger had introduced Malone, the man didn't even react. He just stared straight in front of him with a blank face, obviously caught in his thoughts. He had continued like that all day. He didn't speak to anyone or seem to care about anything or anyone else but Veronica.  
  
His despair had spread throughout the occupants of the tree house and Roxton had suggested Marguerite and him take this walk in an attempt to escape it.  
  
Realizing he'd been lost in his own thoughts, Roxton looked over to see Marguerite walking along in a sort of a trance of her own. The last two days were weighing heavily on her and pushing her to her breaking point. First, she had lost Veronica and then, in some twist of fate, Malone had returned just in time to find Veronica dead. All of this had completely destroyed the facade Marguerite usually wore and left her a wreck.  
  
"How do you think he is going to handle it," he said, waking her from her trance.  
  
"I don't really know," was her only reply. Roxton could almost see the thoughts going through her mind. She seemed to be going through his possible reactions and the fact that she wasn't voicing her thoughts did nothing to quell the fear that was already festering inside him.  
  
".and how are you holding up," Roxton said, trying to draw some of her attention away from sympathizing with Malone. He knew that dwelling on the subject would just sink them further into the despair that had overwhelmed the tree house.  
  
She looked over at him a little taken aback by the quick change of subject. She seemed at a loss for words for a moment, then finally managed to say "I'm fine."  
  
Roxton could easily see through the lie. Her eyes told a completely different story than her mouth. They were blood-shot and the pain she fought to suppress was easily readable. "Really?" he asked cautiously, "you don't seem like it."  
  
She was struggling with her emotions and Roxton could tell. She needed to spill some of it but her pride and her built up defenses were preventing it. "I'm fine John, really," she persisted. As she spoke, Roxton could tell that she was trying to convince herself of it as well.  
  
Enough beating around the bush, he thought to himself and quickly grabbed a hold of one of her forearms and brought her around to face him. She gazed at him, in surprise. Before she could object, Roxton continued. "You don't have to wear the mask in front of me Marguerite."  
  
"What mask," she replied in an effort to deflect him but Roxton had seen her weakness and was determined to get find a way in.  
  
"Your mask, Marguerite, the one you always wear." She continued to stare at him in refusal.  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said in a harsh tone, as she tried to wiggle loose from his grip. Her defenses were kicking in and she was rapidly turning into her uncaring self. Roxton had one chance at this and he knew it. If he didn't break through her wall on the first try, it would be too late and her defenses would be too strong to get through.  
  
Increasing his grip, Roxton forced her to look into her eyes. "Enough of this Marguerite. We've both been through too much to play this game again. I know you're hurting and keeping it inside is just going to tear you up. Veronica deserves better than this." A balance of anger, sympathy, and guilt, it was perhaps the only way to approach the subject with Marguerite.  
  
At first, she looked angry at his bold statement, glaring at him with fury in her eyes. But, to Roxton's surprise, that same anger seemed to subside just enough for tears to become barely visible in her eyes. She tried to choke out something, but stopped and gazed down at the ground. Roxton knew she was fighting as hard as she could to keep her tears at bay. Her pride wouldn't allow her to seem weak. The last thing he needed was Marguerite being too prideful to admit it.  
  
With a hand, he reached for her chin and brought her face up once again to meet his. He did his best to look as sympathetic and caring as possible. A couple of silent moments passed between them, as they stared at each other, each one seeming to be trying to peer into the other's soul. Marguerite's defenses were slowly weakening and a lone tear burst free and dripped down her cheek. With a crack already broken through, the defenses of a lifetime slowly crumbled into rubble.  
  
"It's our fault, John, she died to save us." Her voice crackled as more tears dripped down her cheek. "Of all the people to save, she saved me! Don't you understand, I killed her!"  
  
He stepped closer to her, until he could look directly into her eyes. "That isn't true and you know it."  
  
"But, why," she staggered out, "why?!"  
  
"Isn't it obvious, Marguerite. She wanted us to live. She gave herself for that and blaming yourself is only mocking what she gave up."  
  
He peered into her eyes and saw all the pain as it bubbled to the surface. Sobbingly, her legs gave out and she fell onto Roxton's chest. He grasped her around the waist, stroking her hair to comfort her. To his amazement, he actually felt a tear in his own eyes. Wiping it away, he continued to sooth her. The two continued like that for what seemed like hours, with Roxton praying to the heavens that nothing else would happen.  
  
"Veronica," Malone screamed as he made into the same clearing he had seen before. Once again she emerged from the light and once again Malone screamed to her. She just continued to stand where she had come out, looking at him with a completely emotionless face. "Veronica," he persisted, "what's wrong?" He continued to walk closer to her until he was within a couple of yards.  
  
"Ned," she said, almost emotionless. "Why didn't you come?"  
  
"What?" His only reply was stunned and a little worried at her meaning.  
  
"I waited so long and you didn't come." Her once emotionless contorted into pain and sadness. "I needed you Ned, and you weren't there."  
  
"I tried to get to you, honestly," he said pleadingly, "I was coming home, I just couldn't." he cut off as his gaze drifted to the floor in shame.  
  
".you couldn't save me," she continued his sentence. "I needed you to save me and you wouldn't."  
  
"No! No! I didn't know," suddenly he was at a loss for words, with tears in his eyes. "I didn't know," he repeated, unable to say anything else. His knees gave way, and he fell to his knees before her feet in defeat.  
  
She gazed down at him with pain written all over her face. Then, suddenly, as if triggered by some other force, she looked back at the ray of light and turned to Malone to say, "Ned, I have to go." With that she turned to walk back to the light.  
  
"No," Malone said as he rose to his feet and ran at her, "I'm not loosing you again." He reached with both arms to wrap her waist. But, instead of meeting the flesh of her beautiful stomach, his hands passed through her body. His momentum carried him through her and the lack of resistance caused him to lose his balance and trip. He sprawled onto the ground, turning himself to face her as she bent over him. The whole world seemed to distort again but the last thing he heard her say was perhaps the most damaging.  
  
"You've already lost me," she said as her face finally evaporated before his eyes and the world around him disappeared into darkness.  
  
"No," Malone screamed as he woke to the sound of the late evening. Looking around, he immediately recognized the tree house. He fought to control his ragged breath, eventually succeeding. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of her and it startled him until he realized that it was no longer a dream. Not a dream, a nightmare, he told himself as he wiped the sweat from his brow and turned to face her directly.  
  
The whole day, he had been plagued by nightmares bordering the same thought. Though they didn't seem as real as the first dream he had, they were absolutely horrifying. In every one, Veronica disappeared before his eyes, leaving him alone, with no strength left. But lately, they had turned even worse. In the most recent ones, she had blamed him for everything that had happened, one time going so far as to tell him she hated him with all her heart, another time telling him she never even liked him.  
  
The dreams made sleeping into torture and as a result he usually only got about ten to twenty minutes of sleep in before waking up in a cold sweat. It was as if every time he dreamed he was forced to feel his heart die over and over again. Part of him wanted to object and say it wasn't his fault, but the guilt of not being there for her was sending him further into the depths of despair.  
  
He knew everyone was worried about him, mostly because he was hardly sociable and barely even tolerable. He had refused to move from the chair in front of Veronica, regardless of what the others tried to do. He just couldn't abandon her, he wouldn't leave her, not again.  
  
Challenger and Roxton had had what they thought was a private conversation on when and where they should bury her, but Malone had learned to be very perceptive from his journey. He had easily read their lips and knew exactly what they were talking about. Above all things, his first instinct was to walk over to the two men and hit them both as hard and as fast as he could. He didn't want to admit she was gone, he didn't want to let go of one of the only things left that truly drove his life.  
  
Luckily for the two men, he reined his emotions in before he could act on his impulse and continued to sit silently in front of her. The rest of the explorers seemed almost weary to get close to Malone, probably because he was constantly caught in a trance. His thoughts were always somewhere else and even when someone tried to get his attention, he only nodded or glanced at them.  
  
The result was that everyone had gone out on their own for the day, leaving Malone with Veronica. Challenger and Finn had gone off on some excuse that they had to check the windmill and Roxton and Marguerite had conveniently decided it was time to take a leisurely walk through the jungle. But, to Malone, none of it mattered. He felt like the entire world could come crashing down and he wouldn't notice or wouldn't care. But life, it seemed, was just going to carry on, with or without him.  
  
Challenger finally reached the elevator to the tree house as darkness ascended over the plateau. He and Finn had spent the whole day doing assessments of the damage the event had caused. Luckily, the windmill and the utilities for the tree house were still intact. After that, they had just decided to go on a walk, in hopes of avoiding the tree house.  
  
Lately, Challenger could almost feel an aura of doom around their home. Malone hadn't taken Veronica's death well at all. He never spoke, and kept shutting everyone out. Then again, the boy's been through more in the last few days than I'd want to experience in a lifetime. A flood of sympathy washed over him as he thought of how Malone looked all that morning and afternoon.  
  
The elevator finally reached the top and Challenger stepped out to find Malone once again sleeping in his chair. He slowly approached him and stared briefly at the reporter. No matter how much he wanted to help, he had to let Malone come to terms with Veronica's death by himself. Until that time, Challenger vowed that he would do everything he could to help. "I just wish there was something I could do," he said mostly to himself as Malone muttered something to himself.  
  
"What?" Finn asked from behind him, by the stairs.  
  
"Nothing," he replied as he turned to follow her down to their rooms. Before he disappeared down them, he took one look back at Malone, thinking to himself sarcastically, life, isn't it kind. With that, he made his way down to his room and joined the rest of the explorers in unconsciousness.  
  
You know, I just noticed something. That's the first time Finn has actually had dialogue with another character. It never dawned on me that Finn has always been either mourning or just out of the scene whenever there's a conversation. Ironic, isn't it. Anyway, the next chapter should be out soon because its almost written. Oh yeah, if you want to review go ahead and tell me what I did wrong or right. I hope you like this so far 


	6. Starcrossed Lovers

Well, here's the sixth chapter to the story. It's shorter than usual but it just didn't fit into chapter five. Anyway, here's a warning, this will probably be the most depressing chapter of them all. Up until now, the entire story has been more focused on the drama aspect but hopefully I can get back to the more romantic part as the story comes to an end. In case you get worried, this isn't the ending. A quick tip, I hate depressing endings, that's why I never quite liked reading Romeo and Juliet. By the way, pardon my analogy to that story. The rest of this I hope you can read for yourself. I'll try to work on the next chapter and get it out as soon as I can.  
  
Note: Thanks for the encouragement. I'm still half expecting some one to write that they hate this, so its really encouraging seeing so many people give good comments.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own them, I never have, and I don't think I ever will. I just have too big of an imagination to settle for the horrible ending the writers gave the series.  
  
"Ned," Veronica screamed as Malone came up to her again, "Ned, help me!"  
  
"What is it Veronica, what's wrong." He looked around but he couldn't see what was hurting her  
  
"Stop it Ned, it hurts!" Her voice rang in pain.  
  
After another quick glance, he rushed forward, determined to grab her and protect her from whatever was happening, but as he approached her, he suddenly felt very hot, and pulled away with a yelp of pain. He got his bearings about him and found himself staring directly at the same shimmering wall that had chased him before. It was completely see-through, allowing him to watch as Veronica fell to her knees on the other side. She seemed to be completely lost in despair.  
  
"Ned, why won't you help me?" She seemed almost to be questioning the air, she was so caught in her thoughts.  
  
He yelled her name at the top of his lungs but she continued staring hopelessly in front of her. Once again, he approached the wall, only to be burned again. He couldn't get her attention and was forced to stand there as a bright yellow light descended on her.  
  
Her once secluded expression contorted into fear and then pain as she started to scream at the top of her lungs. He could see her and tried to reach out to her but the wall again burned him. Her screams increased in intensity, ringing in Malone's ears. Each sound was torture to his heart and each second compounded his pain immeasurably. What had been several long screams turned into one continuous scream as the light increased to almost blinding. His eyes couldn't take it and he looked away.  
  
Suddenly, her screaming stopped and he looked back towards where she was. Her eyes rolled up into her head, and she slowly fell. He rushed forward again, surprised that he actually made it to her. He caught her, just before she could hit the ground and looked down at her. He could almost feel her life fading in his hands and with her last breath she muttered, "Ned, why?"  
  
Once again, Malone woke up in the tree house. Tears were already rolling freely down his cheek as he found himself wrapped around Veronica's body. She looked so still, completely and utterly unmoving. He tried again to rein in his emotion but his will power was already gone. There was no one else awake, so he decided that it was okay to feel, for once.  
  
He couldn't stop his tears. All he wanted to do was see her again, just one time, that's all he asked. But it seemed like everything refused to help him. He didn't know who or what to blame, so he did the most logical thing, he blamed himself. He hadn't been there. He had gone off to discover himself, only to have a piece of him ripped out when he returned.  
  
If that wasn't bad enough, now he got the enjoyment of reliving that pain every time he went to sleep. The nightmares plagued him each time, and what's more, he couldn't stop himself from sleeping. He had had next to no sleep for the past four days, so staying awake was nearly impossible. He would try his hardest, but sooner or later his eyes would close and he'd drift of into his nightmare world.  
  
Every time, it felt like a stake through the heart. He couldn't do anything but watch, and he could never touch her. Then it would end without warning, leaving him a wreck. Usually, he could keep it inside but the dreams were slowly cracking through his resolve and he found himself spilling a minor fraction of what he felt.  
  
Nothing could compare to it. He didn't think even death could come close. Somehow, death actually seemed preferable to the constant torture. With a shrug, he tried to let go of the idea, but it just wouldn't go away. He reasoned that it must be how a torture victim felt, seeking death as a release to the constant pain.  
  
It scared him to think of such a thing, but somehow he was oblivious to the fear he should have instinctively felt. His gaze was once again caught on her face. It was losing what little color it had as time passed. Soon, she would be as pale as a ghost. That thought brought up a very emotional point. Eventually, he would have to bury her body in the ground, but the thought of it was unbearable. It meant giving up. It meant that he had lost her forever, and that was something he couldn't stand.  
  
His heart ached with pain as he stroked her hair. He couldn't say goodbye, not now, not ever. If he had to admit she was gone, he just knew somehow that he wouldn't be able to go on, his heart wouldn't allow it. Discretely, he reached into his bag and brought out a small glass bottle. I can't go on, without you. You were everything good in the world and now you've been taken from me. I don't want to bury you, I don't want to lose you. I want to be with you. So I pray, that you'll forgive me, I'll be with you soon.  
  
His shaking hands brought the bottle up into his view as he opened the top. A small symbol was etched into the glass, one that stood as a warning. He remembered getting the bottle as a gift from a shaman he had met on his journey. It was a potion that the shaman said would "separate the spirit from the body." The blunt interpretation was that it was poison.  
  
At the time he got it, he never anticipated on using it. I guess, times change, he thought as he held back his tears, and people change too. He looked straight at her, one last time, bidding her and the world he always knew one last goodbye. Slowly, he lifted the bottle to his mouth, spilling the contents into his throat.  
  
The impact was immediate. His legs gave out and went numb, followed shortly by his arms. With no support, he slumped down onto Veronica. As he slowly lost control of his body, he stared out of the tree house into the night. In those last seconds, he cursed life which was so cruel, he cursed the fate that had torn her from him, he cursed the world, the universe, the stars, everything that existed. Remembering an old line from an even older story, he said one last thing before he darkness pulled him in. In a low voice, he uttered to the universe, "I defy you stars." A lone tear slid down his cheek and his eyelids slowly shut to the world around him, and, with that, Ned Malone faded away into oblivion.  
  
Well, there it was, the low point of the story. If there's anyone out there, you're probably thinking "What sort of story is this, you just killed off the two main characters?" Well, that's partially true, but this isn't the ending so try to keep reading. Like I said before, I haven't quite hit the twist yet. Hopefully, it will surprise you, but I never know. Anyway, review if you want and I'll try to get the next one out as quickly as this one. 


	7. Shocking Revelations and Mysterious Meet...

Finally, after who knows how long, I can write the next chapter. Yeah, I know, right about now you're probably thinking that I must be the slowest writer in the history of mankind. I really have no excuse for it, I guess you could say I was just out of the groove for a while. That's not to say that I didn't try to write this chapter. In fact, I think I wrote this chapter at least five times but it was never good enough to post. Then, when I read the last set of reviews, I kicked it into gear and decided to write this chapter from this perspective. I can only hope that it is worth your time to read. This chapter is kind of open ended so I guess I'm going to have to start writing the next chapter very soon so you don't have to wait another month just for another chapter. Once, again, sorry for the wait, I'll work on it but in the meantime I hope you enjoy this chapter  
  
Note: Wow! I'm on four people's favorite stories list, or at least I was. I'm probably not on them anymore but I just wanted to say thanks to those people. You really have no idea how encouraging it was to see that. In addition, thanks to everyone who took the time to write reviews, it truly encourages me.  
  
Sidenote: For some reason, every time I post something, it gets distorted. Usually, I have character's thoughts in italics and I have dividing lines between each section or change of view. Unfortunately, none of these things are showing up on the posted copies because I read some of the latest chapters and realized that you couldn't tell which lines were the character thoughts and which were just my words because fanfiction.net must not take the italics into account. So, from now on, I'm going to put character's thoughts in single quotations ('_') and I'll try a different way of separating the sections. Eventually, I'll try to go back and change the other chapters so they are less confusing. Just wanted to say that, I was a little embarrassed about the last few chapters when I read them over.  
  
Disclaimer: I wish I owned them but I don't. Sadly, I don't think I ever will. Oh well, life goes on, right?  
  
POV: Challenger  
  
Challenger woke to yet another rainy, dreary day. He rubbed his eyes and slowly made his way out of bed and to the balcony. He had planned on running some more checks to make sure everything survived the near doomsday but with rain pouring as hard as it was those thoughts flew out the window. It looked like everyone was caught inside for yet another day of misery. He made his way up the stairs to the kitchen to yet again make breakfast for the inhabitants of the tree house.  
  
As he passed by the couch, he noticed Malone lying on top of Veronica. There was no doubt in his mind that Malone would never get over this. It was too much for someone like him to have to handle. Challenger was actually surprised by how little emotion he had shown so far. Every time someone else was around he seemed to be in a different world altogether. Silently, he vowed to try to talk to Malone when he woke up. Perhaps, if he was lucky, he could coerce him into actually sleeping in his bed tonight.  
  
As he started to roast the coffee, he was reminded of a very unenviable topic, how, where, and when they were going to bury Veronica. The first thought that crossed his mind was that they should bury her next to her father. Of course, he would have to bide his time in bringing up the subject because he was pretty sure it wouldn't sit well with Malone. Any reference to burying Veronica might very well prove too much for the young man and he knew, somehow, that if he chose the wrong time he could very well end up the focus of every emotion Malone was trying so hard to suppress.  
  
The young man definitely wasn't looking too well. As a matter of fact, Challenger noticed that he seemed more pale than usual. I guess that's what happens when you don't hardly eat or sleep for two days straight, he thought to himself and shook his head in pity of the young reporter. He tried to turn his attention to the preparing food for breakfast but something just didn't feel right. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something seemed different today, as if the world had somehow changed and Challenger didn't know if it was for the better or the worse.  
  
He tried his best to shrug the feeling off but it continued all during his preparation of the food and kept hounding him as he waited for Roxton and Marguerite to get up. After what seemed like entirely too long of a wait, Challenger spotted them making their way up the stairs. It was no surprise that they were walking together. Ever since the incident with Veronica, Roxton had appointed himself guardian of Marguerite. They spent most of their waking hours in sight of one another and at night, Roxton usually slept in a chair next to Marguerite's bed.  
  
He found himself smiling as Marguerite reached for the coffee pot, only to have Roxton grab it before her. With a smile, he insisted, "allow me," while pulling out a cup and filling it with coffee. He handed the cup to Marguerite and was rewarded with what seemed like a genuine smile. The two made their way to the table and sat down next to each other, glancing up from their food every once in a while with no real attempt to hide it.  
  
For some reason, Challenger almost laughed at the irony. Although it was highly inappropriate, it seemed ironic that the destruction of one relationship was actually leading to the building of another. Just as he thought that, an intense wave of guilt passed over him and he mentally kicked himself for the thought. He slowly picked away at his fried egg when Finn stepped into the dining area.  
  
All three of them looked up as Finn approached the table and reluctantly pulled out a chair to sit in. Challenger immediately went to get a plate for her while both Roxton and Marguerite smiled at her, thanking Finn for her bravery in finally coming out of her room. Within seconds, Challenger had a full plate placed in front of her and as he went to get her something to drink, he heard Roxton speak up. "What about Malone?"  
  
A quick glance at Malone, and Challenger knew exactly what he meant. Eventually, Malone was going to have to eat something. Going two days without hardly eating anything definitely wasn't healthy and there was no telling how much food he had in his journey back to the treehouse but Challenger was almost confident he didn't have much. In fact, there was so little Challenger knew about what had happened to Malone. He had dozens of questions he wanted to ask the young man but now was definitely not the right time to ask them. '.and after what happened, I'm not sure if there will ever be a right time,' Challenger thought to himself as he opened the cupboard and searched for a plate  
  
He found one and brought it out onto the stove, filling it with eggs, a couple of fruits, and some dried jerky from one of Roxton's many hunting adventures. When he turned around, he spotted Marguerite leaning against the counter next to him, silently regarding the form of the man across the room. He turned to her and she reached for the plate without more than a glance in Challenger's direction. She stated plainly, "I'll give it to him," and reached for the platter Challenger was holding. Considering Malone's reaction to the first time he was woken up, Challenger was actually a little relieved at Marguerite's foresight, if only because she was willing to risk her neck to save them from having to do the same.  
  
He handed her the plate and she walked towards Malone with a little too much focus. As she neared the couch, her boot hit a loose plank that apparently had been overlooked by Challenger's inspection of the house the day after the incident. Startled by the plank, Marguerite was thrown off balance and landed face first with an undignified "thump." The platter she was holding rattled as it spread its contents across the floor, with the silverware clattering nearby. All the noise made Challenger cringe, mostly because of what it must be like for Malone, since he was only a couple of meters from the incident and probably got a good ear full.  
  
To Challenger and everyone else's surprise, Malone didn't even react to what happened. In fact, he didn't even move. 'I guess that the lack of sleep is finally getting to him,' Challenger thought, in an effort to calm the fear that for some reason was instinctively taking hold of him. While Marguerite picked herself up from the embarrassing fall and wiped off some of the spilt eggs from her shirt, Challenger glanced at Roxton and noticed that he too was focused on Malone. Challenger could almost see a small twitch of fear on his face, and apparently, Marguerite could too because she started to approach Malone again.  
  
As she came up to his bent down form, she tensed but reluctantly tapped Malone on the shoulder, calling out, "Malone?" When he didn't reply, she tapped him a little harder and once again got no reply. By now, Challenger was unconsciously making his way over to the couch. A number of possible situations came to mind, none of which were good. With Malone's lack of sleep and nutrition, there was no telling how many possible diseases and illnesses he could have contracted but Challenger was almost sure that was what was happening. Malone must be sick with something, it was the only reason why he wouldn't respond. 'Or is it,' he thought to himself as he came up alongside Marguerite.  
  
He reached to feel Malone's forehead and instead of Malone being burning up, he found that he was ice cold. Fear immediately started to run through him, as he called out Malone's name and gave him a good jostling. By now, Roxton had made his way over to Malone and reached to turn him over. As he wrestled to pick up the man, something dropped from his hand and hit the floor with a "clank." Roxton continued trying to keep Malone upright while Challenger reached down to examine the object that had rolled slightly out of view. He reached for and it and brought it into sight, only to have his heart skip a beat.  
  
It was a vial, an empty vial. Immediately, Challenger knew what it was without any question. His breath stopped and his hand started to slightly shake. No, it couldn't be real, this couldn't have happened again. His mind cried out in objection but his body seemed to lose all its strength. This had to be a nightmare, this couldn't be real. This couldn't happen again, not to him, not to the rest of his family.  
  
But it wasn't a nightmare. He never woke to find himself safe in his room, he never got to breath a sigh of relief and say it was just a dream. As he glanced up at Roxton and Marguerite, he realized that this was reality and he was stuck in it. Roxton looked down at Challenger for an explanation but Challenger found the lump in his throat impossible to speak over. All he could do was hold the vial up to Roxton for his own inspection.  
  
If Marguerite's gasp at reading the symbol etched into the side of the vial wasn't enough, Roxton's look of shock was definitely more than enough to tell Challenger that they understood. Finn, who had curiously made her way over to the group, approached and was about to ask what was wrong when she spotted the vial and stopped. Her eyes seemed to get three times bigger and mouth dropped open in disbelief.  
  
The air seemed to fall completely silent between the remaining members of Challenger's tree house family. Both Marguerite and Finn looked like they were going to break out crying at any moment and, to his own surprise, Challenger found tears building up in his own eyes. No one had to question what happened, they all instinctively knew.  
  
Malone had gone to join Veronica. He had gone to be with the only one he loved.  
  
POV: Malone  
  
Glancing around, Malone found himself in an all too familiar darkness. It felt completely and utterly black both inside and outside, without a single ray of light. He couldn't even see his hand in front of his face. Then, as if triggered by some outside force, a light began to illuminate a small patch of land ahead of him. He walked towards it, drawn to it somehow, and when he found himself in the exact center of the circle of light, he realized that it was the exact same setting as his first dream.  
  
As the realization dawned on him, a beam of light seemed to once again shine down and a figure emerged from it. Malone stood in shock as the figure materialized in front of him. She had beautiful blond hair, and a tanned complexion, with a golden-looking crown adorning her head and a long braided ponytail running down her back. She looked every bit royalty, wearing shimmering clothes that almost sparkled as she walked out of the beam of light. Slowly, her face materialized in front of him and he gasped in shock. There in front of him, was a woman who looked almost exactly like Veronica and if it weren't for her older looking appearance, Malone would have sworn it was her.  
  
She approached him, eyeing him with a blank expression. "Welcome, Ned Malone," she greeted in a voice that seemed somehow familiar. She continued forward and Malone's mind could swear he knew her. She closed to within a couple of yards of Malone and smiled at him. He found himself fumbling through his thoughts in search of her identity. He knew her, he just couldn't put a finger on a name or identity.  
  
"You don't remember me, do you?" Her words seemed less like a question and more like a statement to Malone but he absently shook his head no and continued to stare. Everything about her seemed completely familiar, almost as if he'd seen those features presented in a different way. He glanced into her eyes and then he recognition swept through him. The glimmer in her eyes, it was the same one he'd dreamed of for months, the same one that had changed his life.  
  
As realization hit him, she seemed to almost smirk, as if she knew he had finally recognized her. His eyes got a little wider from the shock and he looked at her again from head to toe. From out of no where, he called forth a name he didn't know how he remembered. "Abigail.?"  
  
End of Chapter 7  
  
Well, that was chapter seven. I know, it took me long enough, and I will give you my word the next one won't take that long to get out. I am trying my best to get myself into the story. I only hope you can forgive me for the last delay. If you want to and you have time, you can review and tell me what I did that you like or dislike. If you didn't read it before, the reviews are encouraging and to be honest, I use them as a sort of inspiration on how to keep writing. So, if you have time, I'd appreciate it. Anyway, I hope you liked this. 


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